Sit back and relax, prepare to be unsurprised by the ending, neatly tied up in a good piece of music theatre, pick up some of the references to famous actors and films, don’t let yourself be bewildered by all the inside jokes, and you’re in for an hour and a half of good entertainment.
Gordon, playing summer camp tutor Rebecca-Diane and Ben Platt playing her close colleague Amos, her co-dependent, we’re told, contribute to quite a sweet little movie, amusing, even if not quite deserving the Sundance Festival’s word for it: hilarious.
The NZ International Film Festival’s programme described it as “a rollicking mockumentary set at a scrappy theatre camp … an affectionate look at a ragtag troupe of eccentric misfits”.
Helps to know a lot of the story is a semi-autobiographical version of the long friendship between Molly Gordon and Ben Platt.
The scrappy theatre camp is fictional AdirondACTS, in upstate New York, a camp that not very well-off parents send their kids to.
Many, including Ayo Edebiri as Janet, are seriously talented.
The even leafier camp next door has a capable business manager Caroline (Patti Harrison) who regards struggling AdirondACTS as a take-over target.
Caroline fixes her sights on hopeless Troy (YouTube star Jimmy Tatro) the son of AdirondACTS’ faded star owner Joan (Amy Sedaris), who has clumsily stepped in to try to rescue the place, calling himself an en-Troy-preneur, when his mother Joan falls into a coma triggered by a rendition of Bye Bye Birdie.
As Rebecca-Diane and Amos prepare the kids for their production, a tribute to comatose Joan called “Joan Still”, several other tutors step up, with varying levels of comedic input, including dance instructor Clive (Nathan Lee Graham) and costume designer Gigi (Owen Thiele).
Noah Galvin stands out as Glenn, the curtain hanger turned star performer.
A lot of the film is chaotic and rather incoherent, but it closely links life with art, so it could be said that it’s a reasonably realistic depiction of a theatre camp.
Teachers and managers might pick up some clues about how to grab hearts and minds, or not to, older kids might recognise themselves, as well as some of their more self-absorbed tutors, and going behind the scenes of school holiday programmes and school music theatre productions is a lot of fun. Theater Camp is a comedy that’s not for everyone, but will appeal to many.
Recommended
The first person to bring an image or hardcopy of this review to Starlight Cinema Taupō qualifies for a free ticket to Theater Camp.
- Movies are rated: Avoid, Recommended, Highly recommended and Must see.
